The Lamar Louise Curry Concert Series seeks to present captivating music in a beautiful space to the people of South Florida.  This ministry of First United Methodist Church Coral Gables is designed to provide a vital community outreach that enriches the lives of all ages— spiritually, culturally, and educationally—through music!

Bethune-Cookman University Inspirational Gospel Choir

Mr. Vertellis Kendrick, Musical Director

Sunday, October 12, 2025 • 1:30 PM

Get ready for an afternoon of soul-stirring music! The Inspirational Gospel Choir of Bethune-Cookman University is a dynamic group of young university students who serve as ministers in song and ambassadors to the greater community, carrying forward the vision of the university’s founder, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune: “Our whole school is for Christian service.” With a mission to glorify God and inspire hearts through music that reflects the Word, the choir invites listeners into an encounter with the Holy Spirit through every note.

Come experience the joy, faith, and energy of gospel music at its finest. All are welcome—bring a friend and be uplifted!

The Miami Sousa Band:
Salute to Veterans

Dr. Seth M. Carlson, Conductor

Sunday, November 16, 2025 • 4:00 PM

The Miami Sousa Band returns to the 2025-2026 Lamar Louise Curry Concert Series with a dazzling and uplifting Veteran’s Day Concert to honor those who have served our country in the United States Armed Forces. Enjoy patriotic favorites, such as The Stars and Stripes Forever, alongside other classical works, virtuosic solos, novelties, and marches in a fast-paced, Sousa-style performance. This meaningful and exuberant concert is not to be missed!

Thomas Pandolfi, Concert Pianist (with The Miami Sousa Band)

Dr. Seth M. Carlson, Conductor
Dr. Jeffrey Scott Doebler, Guest Conductor

Friday, January 23, 2026 • 7:30pm

World-renowned pianist Thomas Pandolfi returns to the Lamar Louise Curry Concert Series to present an arresting program of famous piano concertos: Grieg’s Piano Concerto in a minor and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto #1 in b flat minor. Pandolfi began his career early on while at The Juilliard School (BM & MM). Since then he has been an audience favorite, selling out the world’s most prestigious stages, including Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Strathmore, The Kennedy Center, Kiev Opera House, Bucharest’s Romanian Athenaeum, London’s Cadogan Hall, and many others.

In addition to being recognized as one of the greatest interpreters of the Polish masters such as Chopin, Paderewski, and Godowsky, this versatile pianist has received accolades from everything from Bach to Gershwin, with Morton Gould saying, “It’s the finest performance of Gershwin I have heard since the composer himself.” His original and virtuosic transcriptions of popular works, such as West Side Story and Phantom of the Opera, are one-of-kind, jaw-dropping, and dramatic encores that keep audiences of all ages returning to his performances again and again.

Mr. Pandolfi is a Steinway Artist and will begin recording for Steinway Spirio later this year. Mr. Pandolfi’s performances have been broadcast by PBS, WETA (Washington, DC), WQXR (NYC), WRCJ (Detroit), DCN TV (China), The Sound (DC), and many others worldwide.

Dr. Ilona Kubiaczyk-Adler
Concert Organist

Tuesday, February 10, 2026 • 7:30 PM

Ilona Kubiaczyk-Adler (ee-LOH-nuh koo-BYAH-chik AD-ler) began serving at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale, Arizona as Associate Director of Ministries in Music and Arts/Organist in January 2019. In January 2022 she was named Director of Ministries in Music and Arts/Organist. She is a concert organist, pianist, conductor, artistic director, and educator. As a performing artist she has traveled through most of Europe, and South and North America.

A native of Poland, Ilona has been in the Valley since 2008. Before coming to Pinnacle, she served as the Director of Music Ministries at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, and the Associate Director of Music at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Phoenix.

Ilona’s most exciting professional engagements happened at the Oude Kerk, Nieuwe Kerk, Orgelpark and Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Sint Laurenskerk in Alkmaar, the Issue Project Room in New York, Right Brain Rising! festival in Arizona, Musica Moderna festival in Lodz, with the US Air Force Strings at St. John’s Episcopal in Washington DC, at the Goteborg International Organ Academy in Sweden, Westfield Conference at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, Annual Organ Conference at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey.

Ilona worked as an Assistant Professor of Organ at the Academy of Music in Lodz in Poland, and as a Research Assistant and Faculty Associate at Arizona State University in the US. She graduated from three conservatoria: the Academy of Music in Lodz, Poland (Master of Arts), Conservatorium van Amsterdam, the Netherlands (Master of Music), and the School of Music at Arizona State University in USA (Doctor of Musical Arts).

Her 2015 solo album Antique Sound Palette, recorded on the recently restored 1719 Hildebrandt organ in Paslek, Poland, as well as the recordings she made on the Richards & Fowkes organ at Pinnacle were featured on American Public Radio.

 Ilona is a member of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, the American Choral Directors Association, and the American Guild of Organists, in which she served as the Education Chair and Board Member in the Central Arizona Chapter for 8 years.

First United Methodist Church of Coral Gables
536 Coral Way
Coral Gables, FL 33134
(305) 445-2578

Bring the music to life

Your generosity makes it possible for First Coral Gables to offer inspiring live performances. As a concert underwriter, you directly support talented artists, enrich cultural life, and keep music accessible to all.

You can support the 2025-26 series as an underwriter at these levels:

• Bronze ($100–$499)

• Silver ($500–$1,499)

• Gold ($1,500–$3,000)

• Platinum ($3,000 and above)

• Concert Sponsor: The underwriting of a concert

Take center stage as a champion of the arts! Please contact Dr. Seth Carlson, Music Director, if you are moved to support reaching out to our community through our music ministry.

Every gift, every note,
every standing ovation
begins with you.